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Tag Archives: Secret Six

Age of X Alpha (Marvel). Prologue. I like the anthology format for this character-based beginning to the cross-over (which, yes, I am going to follow).

Angel #41 (IDW). Another change in the art team. Sigh.

Atomic Robo: Deadly Art of Science #3 (Red 5). Turning into a coming of age story for Robo. Interesting, and Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegener capture the weirdness and awkwardness of the idea well.

Avengers Academy #8 (Marvel). I like how Christos Gage is bringing focus on the teachers as well as a the students. Adds narrative depth and texture. I do find the final page to be confusing as to who Tigra is wanting to kick out of the Academy, though.

Birds of Prey #9 (DC). Another month with a single group of artists. I like how Gail Simone allows Dinah to throw off her emotional paralysis by force of will. Consistent with how she writes that character.

B.P.R.D. – Hell on Earth: Gods #2 (Dark Horse). Rewinds to what led to the reveal at the end the first issue of this arc. And now I know that this is Guy Davis’s next to last B.P.R.D. More on that after this mini finishes.

Casanova: Gula #2 (Marvel Icon). Zephyr is looking to be the big bad, or primary protagonist. Family drama on a cosmic scale.

I, Zombie #10 (DC/Vertigo). Nice art of the UO campus.

Scarlet #4 (Marvel Icon). Unfolding as a big morality tale, and right now in kind of a holding pattern story-wise. Great cover by Alex Maleev.

Spider-Girl #3 (Marvel). Setting up a mystery for Anya to work on. I like the conceit with Sue Richards. Not liking the way the art is unsettled.

Uncanny X-Men #532 (Marvel). Greg Land manages to make Emma Frost look like a third-rate Bond girl from the Roger Moore-era on the cover. Matt Fraction and Kieron Gillen’s story remains interesting.

X-23 #5 (Marvel). Marjorie Liu does appear to be getting to tell a story about Laura, while also finding reasons for Gambit to be hanging around. Not crazy about Ms. Sinister strutting around in stripper-wear.

Wolverine and Jubilee #1 (Marvel). I did not follow the vampire story leading up to this mini, but I’ll give anything Kathryn Immonen writes a try. Good use of Jubilee here as someone caught between different desires and influences.

Longer takes:

Angel: Illyria: Haunted #3 (IDW). Scott Tipton and Mariah Huehner regain hold of Illyria’s voice, and I continue to like how this series is exploring both the character and important pieces of the Angelverse left by the cancelation of the show. In this case, the mythology of the Deeper Well as well as of Illyria herself. Elena Casagrande (pencils & inks) and Ilaria Traversi (colors) are effective at rendering characters that walk the line between photo realism and more classic comic art. Best Angel book going right now.

Hellboy: The Sleeping and the Dead #2 (Dark Horse). Not destined to be a classic Hellboy tale, I think, but the conclusion does not disappoint in terms of becoming more than the set up implies. If Scott Hampton were to do more art for the series, that would take some getting used to. His work is slick and clean in a way that the series usually is not. In particular, the figures often appear to be static, less fluid. This works well for the B.P.R.D. guys telling tales at the pub, but less well when the action is unfolding. Dave Stewart shows his versatility in working in a more literal mode than is normal for Hellboy.

Hotwire: Deep Cut #3 (Radical Comics). Steve Pugh and Warren Ellis bring the second mini to a satisfying close with lots of action and witty commentary from Alice, who ends up outsmarting everyone. This is exactly what you would expect, but how the story gets to that point follows a jagged path, not a straight line. Best line of the issue: “So everyone gets a medal, and I’m finally getting my own private army. First we take out the astrologists, then I’m coming for the homeo-paths”.

Uncanny X-Force #4 (Marvel). Rick Remender and Jerome Opena bring the first arc of the series to a taught, smart close. What makes this issue particularly intelligent is how it uses the characters, and their damaged psyches, to such good effect, legitimately creating doubt about whether the original mandate for the Force would be fulfilled or not. I also think that this series is a good argument for putting together consistent creative teams, at least for the run of individual arcs (and here that includes Esad Ribic and the awesome cover art). Not just the best X-book I read. One of the best series I am pulling right now period.

The New York Five #1 (DC/Vertigo). Ryan Kelly draws New York beautifully. Amazing detail, but still clearly drawn by someone, making his work distinctly different from Greg Land or Scott Hampton, while still being “realistic”. Scott Pilgrim-like reintroduction of the characters is clever, and one suspects deliberate on Brian Wood’s part, as his cast is in similar positions to that of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s series (a nod to Maddy from When Fangirls Attack and 3 Chicks Review Comics for highlighting this connection on the podcast).

Lastly, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight concluded for me last month. Read more about that here.

TPBs:

Cowboy Ninja Viking Volume Two (Image).

This second volume was not the same “can’t put it down” fun of the first. The wry asides and visual play with the multiple personalities are still there, but the story gets bogged down in too much of Grear and Nix fighting over Duncan, which is boring and sadly unimaginative. Women do think of things other than men, dudes.

Hawkeye & Mockingbird: Ghosts (Marvel).

Forthcoming.

Iron Man Noir (Marvel).

Forthcoming.

Secret Six: Cats in the Cradle (DC).

It has been clear from the beginning that Gail Simone sees Cat Man as the moral center for the team, and this collection would seem to indicate that I am not particularly invested in that idea. Thomas Blake’s “crossing of the line” only hit me to the extent that the accompanying art by J. Calafiore and Jason Wright made my stomach turn. On the other hand, the Black Alice and Ragdoll dynamic is funny and touching. John Ostrander’s “most dangerous game” take is so slight, and so broadly drawn that I’m not sure what it adds to the Six’s story. However, the collection ends with Simone’s dark, weird, and engmatic western, which elevates this trade to pretty well worth it.

The Sixth Gun Volume 1 (Oni Press).

I can see why this series is popular. Cullen Bunn’s story starts out conventionally, holder of a mystical artifact dies and it passes to an unsuspecting “innocent” who now must face her new fate. As the volume progresses, and the characters are developed, everything becomes more complicated than how it started. Brian Hurtt populates the Frontier with a host of fearsome-looking supernatural characters, but who are nonetheless recognizaeable within the framework of the Western.

Posting this a little late, but here is my October shipment from tfaw:

Monthlies:

Angel #37 (IDW)

I think all anyone needs to know about the current state of this title is that the writing credits are all over the place – three people (four counting the Eddie Hope backup) – with parsing between “plotting” and “writing”. At least the art is fairly settled, fwtw.

Avengers Academy #5 (Marvel)

As always, I read this more carefully than I mean to. This month, Christos Gage offers a typically Marvel take on superheroism and celebrity, with the added background that the kids at the Academy are not, natively, the most upstanding citizens. Add at least one nice visual gag, and you have a pretty good read.

B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth – New World #3 (Dark Horse)

The crossover with Hellboy is coming! I’ll just stipulate now that there will be very few months when B.P.R.D. and/or Hellboy comes in my shipment and they won’t be the best comics I get.

The end game for this series progresses. Very much a moving things forward issue. Little new here, but I do think that Joss Whedon’s active involvement in writing continues to bring clarity to the “season”.

Casanova #3 and #4 (Marvel Icon)

These are dense reads, and a close second to the Hellboy titles for best things I get in my box. In these issues, the meta, which I like, seems a little less arch than in the previous two, or, at least, looser (check out the asides and the “I love comics” panel in #4). I love the curves and fluidity in Ba’s artwork.

I, Zombie #6 (DC/Vertigo)

A not altogether successful diversion about Scott. Still, a title that A and I are reading together. Fun.

Lady Mechanika #0 (Aspen)

Intriguing teaser, pretty much what I hoped for, though I wish Aspen were less soft core-y. Mechanika herself is nothing you won’t find elsewhere, but the ads for the other titles … do people really need comics for this kind of material these days?

S.H.I.E.L.D. #4 (Marvel)

More weirdness involving scientists and prophets. Trying to ponder what it means that Newton is the heavy, or how this deep backstory is going to be connected to the S.H.I.E.L.D. that readers already know.

Spike #1 (IDW)

Decidedly better than Angel this month. Of course, Brian Lynch and Franco Urru have these characters down. I like the idea of moving Spike to Las Vegas. The loss of this series might be the one thing the move to Dark Horse might not improve for this side of the Buffyverse.

Uncanny X-Force #1 (Marvel)

Sets up the first arc of the series. Jerome Opena’s art has a strong sense of movement and an appropriately cool color palette. Decidedly better than some of the more photoreal work in X-Force. I also like Dean White’s Gotham-y cover. I started this subscription because of Rick Remender, and whether that pans out, remains to be seen.

X-23 #2 (Marvel)

Well, this is a disappointment. I thought the first issue set up an interesting story, but that turns out to just be a pretext for plunking Laura into a Wolverine crossover event. Blah.

TPBs:

Black Widow: Deadly Origin (Marvel)

Paul Cornell walks that fine line between critiquing sexism, and male desire and fantasy, and participating in it with this series. What tips it on the side of critique is Natalia/Natasha’s refusal to accept how others, especially Ivan, see her. Tom Raney, Scott Hanna, and Matt Milla’s artwork does not help here, counterposing interesting looking and beautiful flashback sequences with a more polished, and soft core look for the present. Unlike on the covers, though, they do keep Natalia zipped up, for the most part.

Dr. Horrible And Other Horrible Stories (Dark Horse)

This book is pretty much what you would hope for: a fun, witty elaboration on the characters and storyworld for the web serial. This success is no doubt due in no small measure to having a single writer, Zack Whedon, who is also a co-creator of the original show. The artwork is supplied by a variety of interesting people, including Joelle Jones and Farel Dalrymple. My favorite story, artistically, is Penny’s, which features excellent, emotionally resonant work from Jim Rugg, but narratively, the Evil League of Evil chapter made me laugh the most. Despite its charms, I doubt a casual reader would get much from this book.

Her-oes (Marvel)

Like many of the books I get for A, I ended up enjoying this one myself, but I am left unsatisfied by an ending that promises more, more that I doubt very much we will ever see.

Hopeless Savages: Greatest Hits 2000-2010 (Oni Press)

I have wanted to dip into this series, and this collection was a perfect way to do that. I prefer the shorter, slice of life stories in the back of the book, to the higher concept adventures that make up the main chapters, but the Hopeless-Savages grew on me as I made my way through the book. I love the idea of the kids as comics geeks, and think that the creators did well to focus on Zero and Arsenal, each of whom, I think, are more unqiue characters than the other members of the family, although I enjoyed the storylines with Twitch, too. I was happy to see the overt tribute to Love & Rockets, an obvious inspiration for the book.

Perhapanauts Vol. 0 (Image)

I pick up these books every time I get to a Powells and when this “0” volume showed up in iCos, I decided to jump in. Reading this book, my attraction to stories about teams of misfits started to come into focus. That may, in fact, be driving my return to reading comics on a regular basis. Might need a whole blog post on that subject.

Secret Six: Danse Macabre (DC)

Many’s the time I’ve picked up a trade collection and said to myself, “I like this series, but what would make it awesome is if it had undead characters randomly showing up, prancing around and babbling incessantly about things like ‘fear’ and ‘death’ and who they want to kill. Because that’s, you know, soooo scary”. And now with this book, my wish has been fulfilled! Perhaps I have been ruined for all other comics.

In actuality, Gail Simone and John Ostrander make a fair game of adapting “Blackest Night” (I assume) to Secret Six, but even there the, “didn’t I/he/she kill you?”-type jokes only go so far. In the end, I just don’t care, and don’t buy books like this to find out how they fit into the latest ‘universe shaking’ crossover. I wish that DC and Marvel could, every now and again, leave well enough alone and let readers like me hold onto the weird and marginal titles we like, instead of pulling them into storylines devised to make people buy books they don’t normally pay attention to.

Wonder Woman: Contagion (DC)

Gail Simone gives a sweet and heartfelt farewell to Wonder Woman in this collection. The stories themselves are a mix of big fights, and while I prefer the previous collections, which were more tightly drawn together, I appreciate that Simone remained committed to Diana as an epic figure throughout her run on the title. That’s when the character is at her best, I think.

X-Men Forever Vol. 5 (Marvel)

Like a lot of comics readers in my same age group, Chris Claremont pretty much defined the X-Men for me, which is no doubt a major reason why X-Men Forever exists; many of us have disposable income, and pop culture isn’t something you ‘grow out of’ anymore. I like the loopiness of this series, this volume most of that is focused on Kitty, and Claremont certainly knows how to write the soap opera and how to treat the X-Men as one big, complicated family without getting ironic or maudlin. I read this right after having watched X-Men: The Last Stand, and, of the two, the comic comes out much, much better. I also appreciate the series for being in its own little bubble. Indeed, sometimes I wish I had started pulling it monthly.